KräftenvskrallenWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Kräften is a noun, krallen is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Kräften” is a noun and “krallen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#7,496
“Kräften” frequency rank
#19,283
“krallen” frequency rank
26779
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Kräften krallen
Definition Dativ Plural des Substantivs Kraft sich mithilfe der Krallen oder Fingernägel an etwas festhalten

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Kräften and krallen apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
Kräften
7 ch
krallen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Kräften is [ˈkʁɛftn̩] while krallen is [ˈkʁalən]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26779, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Kräften is recorded at frequency rank #7,496, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkʁɛftn̩]. krallen is at rank #19,283, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈkʁalən].

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 26779, this pair ranks #1,812,524 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Kräften vs krallen

Shared letters: eknr. Private to "Kräften": ftä. Private to "krallen": al.

"Kräften" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC  ·  "krallen" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • krallenkarllen · kkrallen · kraleln · kralen · krallenn · krallne · krlalen · krrallen

Frequency comparison

Kräften#7,496
krallen#19,283

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Kräften" and "krallen" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Kräften" is a noun and "krallen" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Kräften" or "krallen"?
"Kräften" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,496 in our German list, against #19,283 for "krallen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Kräften vs krallen

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Kräften”; for a verb, it's “krallen”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Kräften” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list